Three takeaways: Sharks baffled by controversial non-call in loss to Bruins

BOSTON -- A controversial non-call, a rookie's breakout performance and a red-hot backup goalie worked together to spoil a night where Joe Thornton reached a historic milestone in his former-barn.

The Bruins beat the Sharks 2-1 Thursday with help from Danton Heinen's first two NHL goals, goalie Anton Khudobin's 36 saves and the referees decision to give the netminder a free pass when he pushed the net off its hinges with 1:17 remaining in regulation.

Here's what we learned as the Sharks fell to 2-2 on their current five-game road trip with a loss at TD Garden in Boston.

1. Sharks baffled by controversial non call.

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Logan Couture didn't need to utter a word.

By throwing his hands up in the air after Khudobin pushed the Bruins net off its hinges with the Sharks on the attack in the last 90 seconds of the third, he let everyone know exactly how he felt.

Still, the blunt-speaking forward spoke his mind with reporters after the game.

That's a penalty, Couture said, adding: The goalie made it look like someone hit him. He fell back and knocked both posts off. No one on our team was near him, so they missed it.

With 1:17 left off the clock, Khudobin fell back into his net inexplicably, which appeared to force the goal off its hinges, killing the momentum of a Sharks power play with the goalie pulled and an extra attacker on the ice. Defenseman Zdeno Chara also gave the right post a push as Khudobin was falling back against the left post.

The Sharks had produced four shots on goal in the first 1:15 of the power play, forcing the Bruins to play on their heels and run around in their own zone. According to the NHL rulebook, the Sharks could have received a penalty shot if the referees had determined that the net was intentionally dislodged because there wasn't enough time remaining on the clock for the Bruins to serve a full two-minute delay-of-game penalty.

Head coach Pete DeBoer said he did not receive an explanation for the non call.

I didn't get an explanation on a lot of things tonight, so it didn't surprise me, the Sharks coach said.

DeBoer was also upset that Patrice Bergeron didn't receive a penalty earlier in the game for colliding with goalie Martin Jones.

We've all seen that play before, he said. You've got a potential injury to a starting goalie in this league and then just choose to ignore it. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Although he didn't see Khudobin unhinge the net, as a goalie, Jones knows first hand just how much exertion is required to knock the goal loose.

It's on there. It must have been a good push, the Sharks goalie said. I don't know. I'll have to take a look at it.

2. The power play puts on a performance of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Let's start with the good: the Sharks scored their lone goal on the power play at 10:40 of the second when Thornton pushed the puck across the goal line after a Tim Heed shot trickled into the blue paint.

The Sharks also produced 10 shots on goal in their four trips to the power play, including several grade-A chances in the third.

The bad: the Sharks failed to capitalize on four minutes of power play time early in the second, including a 38-second stretch of 5-on-3 play. The Sharks produced just two shots on goal during the four-minute opportunity.

The ugly is the shorthanded goal surrendered to Heinen, his first NHL tally, at 9:41 of the first, the obvious difference in a one-goal game. Heinen found a way to beat Kevin Labanc to a juicy rebound surrendered by Jones on a David Backes shot.

I don't know what it is, just seems like its out of rhythm, Couture said, referring to the power play. When I'm on the ice, seems like guys aren't in the right spots. We're not really creating as much as we're used to creating.

3. Thornton joins the top-20 scorers list.

As Heinen notched his first two career goals in his 12th NHL game, Thornton cracked the league's all-time top-20 scorers list, tying Jari Kurri for 20th place with his 1,398th point when he scored the Sharks lone goal in the middle stanza.

That's amazing, Labanc said. He knows what it takes. He knows the ins and outs: what you should do when you get to the rink, what you should do when you leave the rink. It's 24/7. It's a never-ending process. And if you want to have a career like his, if you want to get as many points as him, you better follow his lead, that's for sure.